Rabat – The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) has instructed the Casablanca police department to deepen their investigation into the murder of a young man called Youssef.
Having attentively watched and listened to the recordings and other digital content published on social networks on the circumstances of a “traffic accident” in which Youssef is reported to have died, police are now investigating the case with the “necessary seriousness,” the DGSN said in a statement.
The “traffic accident” mentioned in the statement occurred on September 8 in Ain Sbaa, Hay Mohammad area in Casablanca. A young man on a motorcycle (Youssef) died on scene, while his friend and a police officer both sustained injuries.
DGSN said that it ordered the National services of judicial police to continue the investigation into the case to shed much-needed light on the real reasons forYoussef’s death.
The statement emphasized that the central national security services also received instructions to follow up on the case, pending the results of the ongoing juridical investigation.
The DGSN statement followed a nationwide uproar as Moroccans flooded social media platforms with messages of solidarity with Youssef’s family and calls on the country’s authorities to investigate the young man’s death with utmost seriousness and urgency.
Youssef’s family believes that their son’s death was not an accident, and most social media calls for justice and solidarity reiterated that belief by calling on authorities to bring to justice the young man’s alleged murderers.
#Justice_for_Youssef is now among the most viral hashtags in Morocco, with many urging both the government and King Mohammed VI to intervene to ensure that justice is served in a case involving police officers.
“Dear beloved King Mohammed VI, I am addressing this to you with all hope that you can see my appeal. My son Youssef was killed by policemen who ran after him because of a helmet. One of the policemen in the motorcycles pushed my son in a violent way, which led to the killing of my dearest boy,” Youssef’s mother wrote on Facebook on November 13.
Addressing the King, the mother said she has been sick waiting to see developments in the case.
“Maybe this is how similar cases are being treated, but I cannot wait and I want to know and understand what is going to happen,” she said.
In a different post, the mother said surveillance videos and medical files prove that her son was not killed due to an accident but died because he was beaten by policemen.
The mother added that her son, whose medical file shows that he received punches on the head and stomach, was left on the scene of the incident without medical aid.
